First Days
by ThePaperNovelist
Summary: You never know what to expect when you wake up, and normally that's fine. Maybe you will get a promotion, or ace a test. And that's how this all started, we didn't know it would happen. I mean how could you? That sort of thing only happens in fairy tales. guess there's just one thing left to do, survive. Just don't go it alone. In trying times, it bodes well to have a friend.
1. Chapter 1

Hello! Bet you weren't expecting this seeing as how I promised awhile ago that I would continue with Elemental Ashes! Well't don't worry, I will get back to that... Eventually.

JK! I actually plan to finish the next two chapters of this then work on this and Elemental Ashes at the same time. One week I will upload a chapter of Elemental ashes and the next week I will update First days.

Hope you guys haven't been waiting too long!

* * *

I never thought it would actually happen. Never thought that the world would turn into a horror movie straight out of Hollywood. Never thought that it would happen in my life. Real life. Never thought about the collapse of society as we know it. Never in my life would I wake up to a world where the dead would rise up and turn the living into corpses. Never thought I would be alone.

Yet, it's oddly comforting to be alone, I don't have anyone breathing down my neck. No teachers or parents expecting me to do stuff I can't; mainly math. No friends to annoy me. No people who piss you off.. No one to start speaking to me when I don't want them too. The world is silent. And I like it that way.

No cars clogging the roads. No police sirens to make me groan about crimes in the city. No babies to make me cringe at their loud wailing. No text messages to interrupt my music time. No getting called to do the dishes, or to do the cat's litter. No more t.v blaring from the other room. And most of all, nothing to make noise. It's just so silent. I feel at peace.

But, that only lasts so long. The moans and groans of the dead as they shuffle by in two's and three's. The dogs barking for their owners to feed them fill the air, or at the dead as they come near them. But. It's the sound of silence that deafens those sounds. I can read and write in silence, nothing to distract me. I am safe in my little apartment here in Atlanta. Safe and sound, happily writing away on a pad of paper. Guess the world forgot about me.

I was awake the day the city went dark, most had left by then. And I was awake when someone rode into town on a horse. It was a stupid move, as I watch from my window I can tell they weren't expecting the city to be this deserted. Most have been from out of town. He's gone under the tank now, his horse is dead. Gone, just like the rest of the world. Funny. I always assumed the police were dead.

I sit and wait for a few minutes just watching the tank. My radio crackles and a voice comes through.

"Hey you, Dumb-ass. Hey, you in the tank. Cozy in there?"

Almost immediately I know that I would have to leave soon. If there was more than one person here then it would only be a matter of time before the food would start to deplete. I guess I should start to pack up. I stuff my food and pots and pans into a duffel bag and sling it over my shoulder. The rest I can just bring it down in another two trips.

I had a working cargo van sitting at the bottom on the fire escape I was currently going down. I blocked off the alley way so I'd be able to move to the van without being swarmed. I unlocked the back doors after jumping down the remaining 5ft. and threw the pack in. I left the doors open and then got back onto the fire escape. I only had to run up 6 flights of stairs before I got to the apartment. A few shots rang out and I had to assume that any of the dead that heard the shots would be heading there, leaving the streets open for me to move the bus out of the way without much trouble.

Lucky for me.

As I expected, it took two more trips to grab all the stuff I had down to the van. The extra fuel cans I had laying around were shoved into the middle of the van and I locked it back up. Now, to move the bus. Simple. Nice and quick. I had it moved and was almost to the van when I started to hear this blaring car alarm moving closer to where I was.

"Are you kidding me?" The first words I'd spoke in months and oh god did it sound horrible. My voice was hoarse from not speaking and I almost jumped in fright at the sound of my voice. I hadn't heard it in a long time. Speaking of things I haven't heard in awhile, that car alarm was headed right in my direction. I turned and fled to the van, almost ripping the door off when I flung it open and threw myself into the driver's seat.

I took off out of the alley way and just about rammed into a red mustang with the horn blaring. A huge horde of the dead was right on it's tail. I back up slightly and it sped off, a hand hanging out the window waving me after it. Might as well follow it. I drive after the mustang and after a while it whips by a moving van leaving the city. I roll my eyes, great. People.

After what seems like an hour we all drive up to a quarry. There is a little camp set up with people milling about. They all turn around and move forwards when the cars pull up. I turn the van off and move into the back. I better prep my knives and hide my guns before I make an appearance. I take a deep breath and open the back door, taking the first steps outside the van and towards the camp. But not before closing and locking the van up.

"She nearly ran into the car. She came out of an alleyway that I swear had a bus in front if it." The guy I nearly hit with the van, I caught a glimpse of him, is speaking and gesturing towards me and the van. I stop walking when I am standing just in front of the van. I guess I look a little different than what they are used to because I look healthy and clean. I took a shower/bath everyday, the water was still running in the city for a while. No one bothered to shut if off, along with power. But I had a bunch of batteries and a flashlights for when it did. Along with 6 jugs of water.

"Who is she?"

"Was she in the city the whole time?"

"How did she survive?"

"Is she bit?"

"She looks clean, is there still running water in the cities?"

"Are there other survivors?"

"Is she part of the army?"

So many questions...

"Where's Merle?"

Silence.

Oh dear...

A small group, the same that came back from the city minus me, stood off to one side speaking while an older man walked over to me. I hadn't moved from where I was, I stood there just watching people move about doing whatever it is was they were before we arrived. He had a rifle, by the look of it though I didn't know one gun from the other; just that they worked, slung over his shoulder and a fishing hat on his head. He smiled at me when he got closer.

"Hey there. Glenn said he ran into you, well almost did." He sounded like my grandpa. Not that I didn't like my grandpa, I loved him, he just sounded like him. I didn't think it would be a good idea to speak. I didn't know these people and I sure as hell wasn't about to start running my mouth and getting killed by it. So, I nodded.

"Well, there was talk about letting you into the group, among other things. Though I doubt Daryl would really care if someone joined or not. And as for Merle.. Well we don't know anything at this point. Would you join us for dinner? The ladies are making soup tonight." He smiled more and waited for my answer. Join them for dinner? Um... Free food? That I don't need to make? Meh, what the hell.

I nodded again and he put his hand on my shoulder, dropping it when I tensed and moved away when he did. Human contact was never my fortè. I shied away from that kind of thing. Never liked to be touchy with people. I just don't like it when people touch me.

He seemed to notice that and gave a sad smile.

"Come on and meet the group. I'm sure they'll be thrilled to meet you." Oh boy... Friendly people. Just what a girl who chooses not to be around people needed. He waited for me before I sighed and started walking towards civilization.

The first one to greet me was a taller man with a head of curly dark brown hair.

"Names Shane. Shane Walsh." He stuck his hand out for me to shake and I cringed. He narrowed his eyes at that and dropped his hand.

"You got a name?" He asked. Of course I do. It's... It's... Oh fuck me sideways and call me June. I forgot my own name. How the hell do you forget your own name? Guess I spent too much time alone. I opened my mouth but quickly closed it and shook my head. He put his hand on his hips.

"You forget your own name? How the hell do you for-"

"Shane!"

Oh boy... Cut off by a woman. A very angry looking woman.

"What Lori?" He snapped and turned his body away from me. I let out a breath and rolled my eyes. The lady, Lori, caught the movement and her anger dissipated.

"There's no need to be angry. Give the girl some space... She... Tired..." Girl... She called me girl... Like, a little girl. I am a woman thank you very much. I tuned out the rest and I focused on the one word. The word swirled around in my mind before I was snapped back into reality by a voice.

"Hey." His voice was rough but gentle. A man in a police uniform was standing near me. I thought it was kinda funny that a man would still be wearing a nice and clean cop outfit in this kind of world. I almost laughed but held it back. I looked at him to show I was listening.

"My names Rick Grimes. It's nice to meet you. I hear you'll be joining us for dinner? Maybe you can tell me about what happened in Atlanta?" He had a southern drawl. It wasn't overly southern, but just enough to know where he was from. In fact they all did. Or at least most of them. The most I gave him was a small smile and a shrug. Still didn't know these people so I wasn't about to open my mouth and speak.

So I will remain silent.


	2. Chapter 2

I stayed by my van most of the day just watching the people as they went about their daily tasks. They knew what was out there but didn't care. Heck there was a few children running around. I guess that's a good sign, that these people can be trusted. Nope. Not happening. I don't trust people who've shown me no reason to. They all keep trying to get me to talk about myself or the van.

Though Dale, whose name I got after he spoke to me again, didn't seem to mind that I didn't speak. He filled the air for us and informed me of the other members of his group. There was Shane: The leader, Rick: The other leader, newly appointed, Lori and Carl: Rick's wife and son, Glenn: Their supply run go-to guy, Andrea and Amy: A pair of sisters Dale was taking care of, T-Dog: A church goer and all around nice guy, Jackie: T-Dog's girlfriend and logical thinker, The Peletier's (Carol, Ed, and Sophie): A family they met outside of Atlanta, The Morales Family: Another family they met outside of Atlanta, and many others.

They all had their place and knew it. And here I was being offered kind words and suspicious glances. I knew they didn't trust me. Granted, I showed up out of nowhere in a city that's overrun by the dead.

Not exactly a cause for trust. For all they know, I was a cannibal and I had body parts in my van. Yeah, that'd bowl over well.

The day came and went, and when night fell they light fires for warmth and to cook food. I guess it was time to join the pack and try to explain what went down in Atlanta after the bombs dropped.

Rick called me over and I nodded. It took a few breaths and the grabbing of my notebook before I was ready to get cozy with people again. I felt ready to jump out of my own skin. It was weird seeing people again. You never know when they were going to turn on you.

The group gave cautious smiles as I sat at the edge of the fire. I gave a nervous glance around at the people who had sat down to listen. The children were with their respective families. Rick started with how he had woken up from a coma to this new world. A world filled with the living dead. He had gotten help from a man who'd taken up residence in his neighbourhood.

Silence. Someone coughed. I let out a silent breath and wrote down something on the notebook and passed it to Rick.

 _I don't trust you people so I'm not yet ready to speak. Been awhile since I spoke regardless, though. So, until I know I can trust you and your group, all communication will be in the form of writing or gestures. Sorry._

Rick regarded me for a moment before nodding slightly and turned back to the group.

"Seems our friend here isn't ready to trust us yet, not that I'm in any way surprised. So, she won't speak. I- Now now now, calm down." The group began to murmur amongst themselves. The murmuring went on until someone spoke up. A very familiar someone.

"Oh come on Rick, you gonna believe that crap?" Shane glared at him over the fire.

Why would he glare at him? Wasn't there something between them, a friendship or something like that? I glanced back and forth between them and noticed something rather strange. Rick's wife, Lori was also looking between them with uncertainty. What does she have to be worried about? She had her husband back, or was there something else going on?

"Well, she hasn't done anything to harm anyone, I don't see why she can't join our group." Dale spoke up. Shane snapped his head towards him.

"Are you serious Dale? She is a stranger, we don't know what she's got in that van of hers. She could kill us in our sleep." He growled out. I narrowed my eyes and quickly scribbled out a note for Rick. He took it and smiled when he read it over.

"I think that's acceptable. A little excessive but doable." He smiled at me and held out his hand. I reached into my pocket and drew out the van keys. He nodded his thanks.

"What are those?" Shane asked.

"Her keys to the van. She handing it over to me in an act of trust. She wants us to place a guard on her at all times if that will give us a sense of security. Though she says she will grab her tent and pitch it right here in plain site for us to see. Says it's easier that way and we'll know where she is. I think it's acceptable, anyone disagree?" He left it open to the group to decide. Many agreed and were probably gonna sleep easy tonight.

"I don't see why not, I mean we can keep an eye on her, everyone sleeps safely and if anything goes wrong at least we have her van." Shane smiled. Lori looked a little accosted at that, while Rick paled slightly brushing off the comment. I almost felt like smacking the smile right off Shane's face. A quick look around and I saw that Dale and Glenn has crestfallen faces. Guess they also felt like it was a bad move.

"What do we do about Daryl? He's not gonna be too happy we left his brother behind." Andrea spoke up from my left side. She was the only one to come closer to me when I had first sat down.

"The truth, I handcuffed him to a roof, the key was lost. It was a simple mishap, perhaps he will understand." Rick said hopefully. Andrea snorted.

"Good luck with that." He still looked hopeful. We left for sleep after that, and I did as I had said, pitching my tent in plain sight. T-Dog helped me carry over the tent and my sleeping bag. Rick was waiting to help set the tent up with me, Shane hovering nearby in case I did anything.


	3. Chapter 3

I watched as Rick and Carl messed about early morning. I rolled my eyes at the antics and tapped his shoulder. He turned to look at me questioningly. I held up the notepad with a scrawled message which he took and looked over.

"Would you be willing? You don't have to, I mean you just got out of the city and you wanna go strolling back in?" He asked concerned. I smiled at him and nodded, knowing that it would be an important step to joining the group. Rick sighed and handed the notepad back to me before smiling slightly.

"Alright, I'll let-"

"AHHHHHHHH!" A high pitched scream interrupts him. I jump and spin in place, trying to pinpoint the source of the scream. Rick's eyes widen and he gasps softly.

"Carl…" He whispers before taking off at a sprint. Shane runs past me with a shotgun in his hands, Glenn jogging past with a man named Jim following closely. Dale slides up to me and nods towards the men.

"You any good with that knife?" He says pointing to the machete attached to my leg. I nod and we both take off towards scream. Amy and Andrea are standing there watching as they seem to beat the hell out of something. Carl passes by us and runs off, probably to his mother's arms. It must have been him who screamed.

Taking stock of the scene I get a glimpse of a man I had yet you meet, holding a baseball bat and swinging it at something crumpled on the ground. Behind them is a dead deer with two arrows sticking out of its side, on its neck is a gaping hole that looked to be made from teeth. The thing on the ground turns out to be a Walker. Dale steps forwards and chops the walker's head off. Everyone is breathing heavily, just having spent quite a bit of energy beating the Walker's body.

A rustling in the forest behind us puts everyone back on alert. Shane heaves the shotgun up and points it towards the source of the rustling. Rick moves towards him and I unsheathe my machete. The group hasn't destroyed the brain yet so the head was going to start moving soon. I moved forwards and rammed the tip of the blade into the forehead.

The rustling got closer and soon a man was stepping into view, a crossbow in one hand. I saw he had a string of squirrels slung over his shoulder. A dirty tan sleeveless shirt clung to his toned chest. Short sandy blonde cropped hair matted and sweat slicked stuck closely to his head, it matched the colour of his incoming beard. Trailing my eyes down to his blue jean covered legs and brown boot clad feet. He stared at the deer for a second before anger flashed across his face.

"Son of a bitch!" He ground out. "That's my deer!" Stalking forwards towards the dead deer he completely misses me standing closest to it. Shane steps back and lowers the shotgun to his side, breathing a sigh of relief. Jim moves back and almost stands on top of my boots, apologizing once he realized that I was there.

"Ah look at it all gnawed on by this filthy-disease-bearing-motherless-proxy-bastard." He sends a kick into the side of the Walker for each insult as we watch on. Amy whimpers and Andrea, being a good sister, takes her away from the scene.

"Calm down son, that's not helping." Dale suggest calmly, though this only serves to fan the flames of anger raging in the man. He scowls and stalks over to Dale, getting in his face.

"What'd you know about it old man? You take that stupid hat and go back to on Golden Pond." Miffled he turns away and sighs deeply. "Been tracking this deer for miles. Frag it back to camp, cook us up some venison." He reaches down and grabs the three arrows embedded in the deer's side. He gestures to the deer's neck where the Walker had been having a nice meal.

"What do you think, we can cut around this chewed up right here?" He glances over his shoulder at us, once again missing me. Shane shakes his head no.

"Man, would not risk that." The man sighs again and straightens, standing just in front of me, still not noticing that I'm standing there. I frown to myself. It's annoying that he's so far ignored me, but if I can manage to catch an obvious seasoned hunter unaware it may play into my advantage. Dale catches my eyes and smirks slightly, having caught my train of thought. I smile and shake my head at him silently gesturing for him to not give me away.

"It's a damn shame." He retorts to Shane, before maneuvering the squirrels up more on his shoulder. "I got some squirrels, a dozen or so. It'll have to do." Silence reigns for a moment before he finally turns and looks in my direction. Momentarily caught off guard by my appearance, he takes a gander at me. Watch as a red tinge slowly forms on his cheeks as his eyes slowly trailed down my form. He swallows before his eyes return to my face. I smile slightly before turning to Rick, gesturing towards the camp letting him know I was heading back. He simply nods and I walk away, but not before catching the man start questioning the others.

"Who the hell is she and where the hell did she come from?" Shane answers but I miss the answer as I walk away. I pass Amy and Andrea, the latter is rubbing her sister's back in comfort. Andrea gives me a weak smile as I pass and I shot her one back knowing how hard seeing something like that can be. She looks grateful and her smile widens at the knowledge that someone understands. It's good to know that you aren't alone in days like these.

I make it back to camp and have crossed in front of the rv when I hear the hunter's voice calling out for someone.

"Merle! Merle! Get your ugly ass out here! I got us some squirrel! Let's stew 'em up." He stormed out from the bushes and walked into the center of the group. Rick and the others trailed out after him looking troubled. Not knowing what was going on, I stepped closer to get a better angle on the situation. Shane stows away his shotgun at a jeep parked close to the Rv.

"Daryl, slow up a bit I need to talk to ya." Ah, so that's his name. Kinda fitting now that I think about it. Watching with interest I see Shane shift his feet.

"There was a.. There was a problem in Atlanta." He said, looking in his general direction but not looking Daryl in the eye. Daryl stops moving and turns to look at him as he moves closer rubbing his jaw.

"About what?" Daryl asks, not yet realizing the tone Shane used isn't a good one. The situation could get out of hand fast so I shuffle around the two and make sure Daryl's back is to me just in case. With how easy he seems to be riled up, and quick to get in people's faces, I decided to un-clip my knife from my leg and toss it to Andrea who clumsily catches it. Her face scrunches up in confusion before catching on and moving in front of Amy protectively.

"'bout Merle." Shane responds, stopping close to me and resting his hands on his hips. Daryl follows his movements, turning his body so it's facing him. "There was a… There was a problem in Atlanta." Daryl takes a few steps forwards, seemingly just moving because he's anxious.

"He dead?" He asks glancing between Rick and Shane. Shane stand there unmoving, though I can see his shoulders are tensed up. His body looks ready to move, knowing he may have to fight the smaller man.

"We're not sure." He says in a low voice. It turns out to be the wrong answer as Daryl tenses too. The two men circle each other like lions waiting for the opportunity to strike.

"He either is or he ain't!" Rick senses the tension and quickly moves to interject.

"No easy way to say this, so I'll just say it." He moves forward, gaining Daryl's attention. The latter takes a step back to distance himself. It's a defensive measure probably ingrained into him from a younger age. The two stare off, Rick's body angled, a cops stance when he perceives a threat to his person. The tension between the three of them is almost tangible.

"Who are you?" Daryl asks, having not seen him before in the group.

"Rick Grimes." He answers honestly. Daryl takes that as his cue to continue the conversation.

"Rick Grimes, you got something you want to tell me?" He says hotly, trying to intimidate the other male. I almost roll my eyes at the obvious challenge Daryl presents.

"Your brother was a danger to us all, so I handcuffed him on a roof, hooked him to a piece of metal. He's still there." Rick answers him immediately. From behind me, T-Dog walks back to camp with an arm full of firewood. He slows as he catches the premise of the conversation. Daryl turns away, his gaze on the ground in front of him, walking away slightly. I take a step back to give him room to walk.

"Hold on. Let me process this. You're saying you handcuffed my brother to a roof and you left him there?" He raises his voice as he speaks, his body tense and about ready to burst into action.

"Yeah." Rick replies. Daryl huffs and I know this is the time to move. Without a sound I move behind him. He grunts and throws the string of squirrels at Rick who ducks under them. I reach forwards and wrap my forearm around Daryl's throat before he can move at Rick. I pull back and our legs slide out from under us. Landing on my back, I wrap my legs around his waist and hold on tight as he bucks.

"Get off!" He shouts his hands clawing at my arms but I hold fast. Rick and Shane move forward to help but with my body wrapped around his there isn't much they can do. Daryl's struggles are followed by grunts and groans. His stomach muscles clench under my thighs and it sends a small shiver up my spine. He's all muscle, lean and strong.

The sound of a knife being drawn and Ricks shout of warning has he releasing him from my hold and bucking my hips to launch him off me. He didn't expect it so his grip on the knife isn't as tight making it easy for Rick to snatch it out of his grip. He spins in place and Shane lunges at him, locking his arms around Daryl. I pant with exertion and stand with T-Dog's help.

"Chokehold is illegal!" Daryl spouts when he gathers his wits about him after the assault. Shane however isn't impressed with him and it shows on his stony face.

"You can file a complaint." I grin at his words, amused since him and Rick are both small town cops. They don't see it though. "Come on man, I can keep this up all day." Shane says as Rick slips the knife into his belt away from Daryl. He kneels down in front of him, Shane watching the two closely waiting on Rick.

"I'd like to have a calm discussion on this topic. Do you think we can manage that? Do you think we can manage that?" He asks, getting in Daryl's face. Daryl doesn't respond but also doesn't fight with Shane as much as he was just a few seconds prior. With Shane's strength and Ricks calming tones the fight drains out of him. Shane purses his lips and drops him taking a few steps back to give him room since he starts anything again. Ricks gives him a few seconds before he lowers himself closer to Daryl who's still lying on the ground. Shane's eyes meet mine and he gives me a nod. Mostly for the effort I put into restraining Daryl so it was easier for them to calm him down. Most of Daryl's fight had left him after the strain of trying to make me let go.

"What I did was not on a whim. Your brother does not work and play well with others." Daryl shoots him a glare. T-Dog steps up next to me and I turn my head to look at him.

"It's not Rick's fault. I had the key. I dropped it." Daryl's head snaps to look at him, momentarily stunned to see me standing there before he snaps at T-Dog.

"You couldn't pick it up?" Daryl practically snarls out. T-Dog seems to shrink in on himself when he answers him. I reach out and rest a hand on his shoulder. With my gaze on T-Dog as he gathers himself I miss the look of jealousy in Daryl's eyes. However the look is gone in a flash and is replaced with anger once T-dog answers.

"Well, I dropped it in a drain." Daryl snorts and leans forwards on his knees. Rick straightens and steps back. Daryl climbs to his feet and stalks past us.

"If it's supposed to make me feel better, it don't." He says as he walks past. I lower my hand from T-Dog's shoulder and watch him leave. His eyes lock with mine before he tears his gaze away when T-Dog speaks up again.

"Maybe this will. I chained the door to the roof so the geeks couldn't get him. With a padlock." Daryl stands there contemplating his words when Rick interjects. Daryl turns his attention to him.

"It's gotta count for something." There's a tense silence following it. Daryl rubs at his eyes and it nearly breaks my heart to hear the pain in his voice.

"The hell with all ya'll. Just tell me where he is so I can go get him."

"He'll show you, isn't that right?" Lori calls out calmly, staring right at Rick. She knows that he would go back to get him. It's not like her Husband to leave a man behind the way that he did. The heat alone could kill him, and with the hot air rising, it would boil him alive.

Rick glances about before nodding. "I'm going back." Lori moves into the Rv and Daryl strides over to his crossbow, where he had left it earlier before he found out about Merle. There's a pause before Rick moves off, probably to go get ready to leave. Carol hands Rick his uniform as he passes and everyone slowly goes back to what they were doing previous to the fight.

I stand there awkwardly as Shane moves to follow Rick. T-Dog shoots me a glance before moving away. I haven't yet decided if I want to go back to Atlanta but I have a feeling that Rick will come looking for me when he goes. I was living in the city before he got there and I do know my way around the area I was living in. Sighing quietly I move back to the van and slip in the passenger seat, moving into the back. Taking stock of what I have on my person, realizing that Andrea still has my machete, I pull a bag closer to me.

I strap a bowie knife that's seen better days to my left leg opposite where my machete goes. The brown handle is familiar in my hand. It's my most used knife, having the most kills with it next to my machete. Flexing my grip around the handle for a moment, I release it and go back to the contents of the bag. It's full of melee weapons for more silent kills. Hammers, a wrench, two metal baseball bats (a wooden one too) and at least twenty different knives in sheaths all crammed into the bag. Having a bat wouldn't be a bad idea either. It would give me some form of range so I wouldn't have to use my knife exclusively, though I couldn't decide between taking a metal bat or the wooden one. Both would make noise when connecting with the ground or Walkers heads.

A knock at the back van door has be drawing a knife from its sheath in anticipation. A second set of knocks has me peering out the blackened windows to see Dale standing there. He must have seen me get into the van. I open the door and blink at him.

"I have a feeling you're going with Rick, seeing as how you're in here getting geared up." Not seeing any reason to deny it I nod yes. He seems slightly upset about it but doesn't argue with me about it. Instead he seems to take a glance around the van before he spots the hammers in my open bag.

"I lost my tools when we lost Merle. I am hoping to get them back, if you can." I smirk and nod. He smiles and adjusts the rifle on his shoulder. He seems nice enough, and has stuck his neck out for me enough that I can do a simple thing as get tools back for the guy.

"Thank you… Uh, I never did get your name." He frowns and I blink.

Holy shit. I forgot to give my name to anyone. I frown myself and reach for the ever present pad of paper in my back pocket. I put the pen to the paper but my mind is blank, after having lived in silence for a while, it's difficult to remember how words sound and work so a simple thing as a name eludes me. Dale, bless his heart, takes my hesitance as mistrust and smiles kindly.

"That's okay, maybe I can make up a nickname to call you. I'll have something ready when you guys get back." My eyes light up with mirth and I lean forwards to hug the man. He tenses but then huffs a laugh and pats my back. Pulling back I smile at him as he leaves. I close the door and spot my gun bag resting beside me.

Perfect, just the bag I needed next. I pull out a Beretta M9, I had gotten it off a dead cop on the outskirts of Atlanta. Lots of military bodies had littered the outskirts of cities which was to be expected, the military and police are always the first to fall. They never listen to the rest of the us civilians and that gets them killed faster.

It left a lot of guns and ammo just laying around for others to loot. So I stocked up when I could, leaving me with a buttload of useable guns.

I shuffled through the few assault rifles I had and their corresponding ammo, looking for my sniper rifle. It took me a while to figure out what type of rifle since I'm not good with guns but having met a dying soldier and getting his help was better than trying to figure out how to use it.

My only sniper rifle was the Remington M24 SWS with Leupold Mk4 LR/T M1 10×40mm fixed-power scope. I actually have two different scopes for it but I chose to forgo the scopes for now. It would be a mote point since we know where we were going and I was planning on bringing a pair of binoculars anyways.

With all my weapons finally ready, my rifle secured to my back, I climb out of the van through the passenger seat and spot Rick leaving his tent. Shane is standing near it waiting to talk to him his face twisted in confusion.

"So that's it, huh? You're just gonna walk off? Just to hell with everybody else?" He says quietly as Rick comes to stand next to him fixing his shirt.

"I'm not saying to hell with anybody. Not to you Shane, Lori least of all." Rick replies before starting to walk away. Shane doesn't move towards him but does say a few more words before before Rick leaves him completely.

"Tell her that." Rick pauses and looks back at him, hands on his hips. He huffs.

"She knows." And that seemingly ends the conversation, at least on Rick's end but Shane isn't done with him. Shane stalks up after him.

"Well look I… I don't okay Rick. So could just throw me a bone here? Could you just tell me why? Why would you risk your life for a douchebag like Merle Dixon?" Daryl, who had been waiting for Rick sneers at Shane when he insults his brother.

"Hey, choose your words more carefully." Shane stops and stares at him unamused. I step closer to the three of them in case another fight breaks out.

"No, I did. Douchebag's what I meant." Shane looks away from him and redirects his angered gaze to Rick. "Merle Dixon... The guy wouldn't give you a glass of water if you were dying of thirst."

"What he would or wouldn't do doesn't interest me. I can't let a man die of thirst... Me. Thirst and exposure. We left him like an animal caught in a trap. That's no way for anything to die, let alone a human being." Rick says calmly and he's right. With the heat being the way it is, Merle was sure to be delirious if not severely sunburnt. Getting to him maybe not be the problem but getting him out of there would be. Shane goes silent, he also knows what would happen to someone stuck on a roof like that. It's easy to see that Shane is conflicted.

On one hand, this Merle Dixon seems like an asshole, the type of guy you wouldn't wanna mess with. But on the other hand no-one, despite any wrong doings, deserves to die by overheating and alone. Regardless of his attitude, Merle Dixon wouldn't be dying on Rick's watch. It's only been a day but it's already rapidly approaching afternoon. If we didn't leave soon, the chance of finding Merle alive were growing slimmer.

"So you and Daryl, that's your big plan?" Lori asks from her spot at the fire. Rick turns on his heels and looks his stare with Glenn. The poor guy knows what Rick is going to ask before he even asks it.

"Oh, come on." He groans lolling his head.

"You know the way, you've been there before. In and out, no problem. You said so yourself." Glenn takes his cap off and runs a hand through his short black hair. "It's not fair of me to ask. I know that. But I'd feel a lot better with you along. I know she would too." Glenn shoots Lori a look.

"Well that's just great. Now you're gonna risk three men, huh?" Shane badgers him casting a glance around the group.

"Four." T-Dog steps up to add his name to the roster. It probably isn't an easy thing, knowing that he is going back to rescue to guy who wasn't exactly the nicest to him. Daryl scoffs and resumes cleaning a few arrows.

"My day just keeps getting better and better, don't it?" He says more to himself then the others. Offended T-Dog shoots a glance around the group before responding.

"Hm, you see anybody else here stepping up to save your brothers cracker ass?" What T-Dog doesn't know is that I will be. Not that I am ready to even say something, I still really only trust Dale and Rick. Shane I would rather not have to speak to him if I could but with him in this group it would happen eventually.

"Why you?" Daryl asks, mildly surprised that T-Dog would even go that far for his older brother. T-dog smirks.

"You wouldn't even begin to understand. You don't speak my language." The comment makes me laugh silently. The man could crack a joke without even realizing it.

"That's four." Dale says, cementing the number, though he knows that I intend to go. I am going to bring it up but before I can step to Rick, Shane grunts out.

"It's not just four. You're putting every single one of us at risk. Just know that Rick. Come on, you saw that Walker. It was here, in camp! They're moving out of the cities. We need every able body we got, we need em here to protect camp." Rick shoves the concern away.

"Seems what you really need are more guns." He says and only Glenn catches on.

"Yeah." He pauses. "Guns." Shane scrunches up his nose, not understanding what he meant.

"Guns, what guns?" Shane asks the both of them.

"Six shotguns, two high powered rifles and over a dozen handguns." Rick smirks. "I cleaned out the cage back at the station before I left. I dropped the bag in Atlanta when I got swarmed. It's just sitting there on the street, waiting to be picked up." Shane swipes a hand down his face. The prospect of having that many guns is too good to be true, but if Rick is right and the bag is still there, it would go a long way into securing our protection.

"Ammo?" Shane asks, wanting to know just how much we need the bag.

"700 rounds, assorted." Shane's head dips and I swear everyone's eyes widen in surprise. I have only 200 for my handguns, sniper and my 3 bolt action rifles. Having 700 rounds for them all is a much needed relief.

"You went through hell to find us. You just got here, and you're gonna turn around and leave?" Lori asks. Carl looks at his dad sadly. My heart breaks at the sight, seeing him just get his dad back only for him to leave.

"I don't want you to leave." Carl begs his dad.

"To hell with the guns. Shane is right. Merle Dixon? He's not worth one of your lives, even with guns thrown in." Rick strides over to Lori as she stands. "Tell me. Make me understand."

"I owe a debt to a man I met and his little boy." Lori glances at Carl and opens her mouth to argue with Rick but he cuts her off before she can. "Lori, if they hadn't taken me in, I'd have died. It's because of them that I made it back to you at all. They said they'd follow me to Atlanta. They'll walk into the same trap I did if I don't warn him."

"What's stopping you?" Lori asks, desperate to stop her husband from leaving.

"The walkie-talkie, the one in the bag I dropped. He's got the other one, our plan was to connect when he got closer." Lori looks down for the moment and Shane speaks up.

"They our walkies?"

"Yeah."

"Then use the CB, what's wrong with that?" Andrea asks. Honestly, the same question had run through my head. I had no idea if there was a difference between a walkie-talkie and a CB.

"CB's fine." Shane says resting his hands on his knees. "The walkies themselves are crap. Date back to late seventies, don't match any other bandwidth or scanners in our cars.." And therein lies the problem. CB wouldn't be able to connect with the other walkie if the man who had the other one tried to radio Rick, he wouldn't get through. If we had the other walkie-talkie we would be able to direct them away from the infested city and over to Quarry.

"I need that bag." Rick told Lori, the former knowing that it cemented his argument. Lori would have to let him go if only to save the man and his son's lives. The looks of devastation on Lori's face was hard to look at so I looked away and instead watch Daryl clean his arrows. Rick speaks with Carl for a moment before looking up and seeing me all geared up. He gives me a knowing look, remembering about my note from the other day expressing my intent to join him.

"Five then?" He asks and I nod in agreement. Shane catches the movement and a scowl works its way across his face.

"You're gonna bring the mute with you too? How she gonna warn y'all if she can't even speak?" He demands, bringing everyone's attention to me. Rick shares a look with Shane and Daryl stands up.

"We ain't bringing no girl, she'll just slow us down." Rick sighs and turns to him.

"We found her in Atlanta, and by the looks of it, she was living there for a while. She and Glenn would know the streets." Daryl and Rick stare each other down and I step up next to Rick, holding the pad out to Daryl. Shane snorts.

"Like he can read." He says faintly and I glare at him over my shoulder. He glares back and I feel the pad ripped out of my hands. Looking back I see Daryl reading the writing on it.

"Why would you go for Merle? They said you just got here, you don't know him." He looks me up and down, missing the sniper rifle strapped to my back. My left leg is missing the weight of my machete but I planned on getting it back from Andrea before we left.

Rick and I share a look. I try and convey to Rick that I agree with him and the topic of leaving a man to die. He seems to gather that and answers Daryl for me.

"Seems we both don't wanna leave a man to die like a caged animal. If it makes you feel better, she's helping him without knowing him. She hasn't met him but is trying to save his life regardless." Rick lowers his voice and steps closer to Daryl. "I'd say that has to mean more to you than if she left him to die because she didn't know him." He steps back and calls out to T-Dog wanting to talk to him about the padlock on the roof door. Daryl watches him go before taking stock of my gear.

"You any good with that knife?" He gestures to the bowie knife on my leg. I nod and pull the knife out and hand it to him. He takes it and inspects the blade with a critical eye. He nods to himself and hands the blade back. I slip it back into its sheath and wait for him to talk. He shifts on his feet and can't seem to decide on what to say.

"That uh, move you did..." I smirk at the memory and he glares at me. "'S impressive, for a girl." And with that, he's gone, striding over to the city work van currently backing up. Didn't even give me time to write out a response, not that I really wanted to do one. He would come to know what I could do in time.

"...ave bolt cutters?" I heard Rick's voice behind me and turned to see him walking over to Dale and Jim, the former sighing in resolution. I had a feeling I knew what was going to happen next and hastily scribbled out a note for Dale.

"Maybe." Dale says cryptically. You can hear in his tone that he knows exactly what Rick and T-Dog want.

"Yeah uh, we uh, get to that roof we'll need to cut that chain and the handcuffs." T-Dog says, his adam's apple bobbing as he swallows hard.

"I never liked lending tools. The last time I did.." T-Dog shuffles his feet and Dale points right at him. "And yes, I am talking to you.. Let's just say your bag of guns wasn't the only bag that was dropped. My tools got left behind with Merle."

"We'll bring your tools back too. Think of the bolt cutters as an investment." Rick says calmly. Dale mutters under his breath.

"Sounds more like a gamble.." He opens his tool box and picks up the bolt cutters, but doesn't hand them straight to Rick.

"What do I get in return?" He asks, the bolt cutters hidden partially behind his leg.

"What do you want?" Rick asks. I walk over to the pair and wait for Dale to answer the question before I can hand him the notepad.

"How about one of those guns you bring back, my pick." Rick nods minutely.

"Done." Just before Dale hand the bolt cutters Jim speaks up.

"Uh, Dale, let's uh, sweeten the deal a bit." All attention is on Jim now as he watches all of us. "You know that us, cube van of yours..." He trails off, and Rick stares at him.

"What about it?"

"RV's radiator hose is shot, that's a problem if we need to get somewhere or very far and the hose on that van is just about a perfect match. Well If I can make it fit." Jim says nonchalantly.

"Tell you what, when we get back you can strip that van down to the bare minimum." Dary honks the horn on the Van and shouts at us to hurry up. And with that I tap Dale's hand with the notepad. He turns to me and takes the notepad from my outstretched hand.

"What kind of tools do you have?" He asks after reading the note. I gesture for him to flip to the next page where I had hastily scrawled down a short list of tools I had in the back of the van. Dale reads it and hands the notepad off to Jim, who in turns nods as he reads it.

"These'll do while we wait." He says and hands the notepad back to me. I stuff it in my back pocket and glance at Rick. Gesturing to the van and back to Dale, I mime turning a key.

"I trust you'll take care of them Dale?" He says as he fishes the keys out of his pocket. Dale hands him the bolt cutters and takes the keys.

"Thank you." Rick then turns and walks away, T-Dog following after him. As they pass Shane he calls out to them. I walk over to Andrea who hands me back the machete. I shoot her a quick smile, receiving one back, and make my way over to the cube van.

"Hey Rick, got any rounds on that python?" He asks, a bag labeled sheriff held loosely in his hand. Rick shakes his head.

"No." Shane drops the bag on the edge and begins to dig through that bag.

"Last time we were on the gun range, I'm sure I wound up with a few loose rounds of yours." Ricks smiles and shakes his head.

"You and that bag, like the bottom of an old lady's purse." Shane stops looking for the rounds and turns to look at Rick, his tone grave.

"I hate that you're doing this, man. I think that it's foolish and reckless. But if you're gonna go, you're taking bullets." Rick tenses.

"I'm not sure I'd want to fire a shot in the city, not after what happened last time." Shane nods.

"That's up to you. Well..." Shane pauses as he looks down at four python rounds, two in each hand. "Four men, four rounds. What are the odds, huh?" Shane glances up at me as I near the van and I shuffle so that the rifle is in view. "Well, let's just hope that…. Let's just hope it doesn't come to that, okay?" He says to Rick. Rick takes the bullets and loads them into the python.

"Thank you." He turns away and hopes into van. I lean forward and close the vans back door. Daryl stops pacing and sits down across from me. And with that we are off.


	4. Chapter 4

No-one talks as we make our way back into the city, not that we wanted to. The tension is high as we come to a stop at on railway tracks on the outskirts. Daryl has been staring at T-Dog the entire time, picking at his fingernails. T-Dog just stares back at him, waiting for Daryl to say something. I know he will, Daryl likes confrontation. To him, getting in others faces and getting straight answers means he can get things done faster. Even if that means throwing the first punch.

"He better be okay. That's my only word on the matter." I roll my eye at the comment, Daryl at first glance can be intimidating and to most unapproachable. The whole onion analogy fits Daryl Dixon, there is way more to him than when you first meet him and when you actually get to know him.

"I told you, the geeks can't get at him. Only thing that's gonna get through that door is us." T-Dog says as Glenn pulls the van to a stop. Glen turns in his seat to address us all.

"We walk from here." Three us of stand, Daryl pulling open the van door and jumping out. T-Dog hold out his hand to help me down and I take it on my jump down. Shooting him a smile, which he returns with a nod, the two of us follow after the others as they jog off towards the city.

Glenn leads us to an overpass down the tracks, where a hole in the wire fence has been cut. He pulls the fence back and Rick passes through, followed by Daryl. Rick stops just shy of the hole and waits for Daryl to come through.

"Merle first or guns?" Daryl doesn't even hesitate to answer him.

"Merle. We ain't even having this conversation."

"We are." Rick turns to look at Glenn and I. "You know the geography, it's your call." Glenn and I share a look, my eyebrow raised since I didn't know where either of them were. With a map, I would be able to find them easily. Glenn shot us both a look as we began jogging.

"Merle's closest. The guns would mean doubling back." He answered. I tapped on Ricks shoulder and he slowed down to match my steps. I held up the notepad and he stopped altogether to read it. T-Dog noticed first that they were two people short and stopped to find us.

"What's the hold up?" He called back to us. Rick held up a hand to acknowledge him before looking up from the notepad to me. He studied me for a moment before speaking.

"You sure you wanna do that?" I nodded and took the pad from him. Glenn and T-Dog walked back over to us, Daryl fuming behind them.

"What now? Girly overexert herself?" He scowled at the glare I sent him.

"Seems our friend here is gonna go after the guns whilst we go get Merle off the roof." He directs his next sentence to the group. "T-dog, you go with her in case she needs any backup. If there is any trouble you pull back and leave it. You know where the department store is, come find us there. We'll wait until you two get back." T-Dog nods and they all start to move away but I reach out and grab Glenn's arm. He stops and shoots me a quizzical look.

"What?" I hurry to scrawl a small note and shoves the notepad in Glenn's awaiting hand. I held the pen out for him and he spent the next few minutes going over a small map with me, so I would know where to go. Daryl paced near the group obviously agitated.

"If you're done, let's go!" He finally stowed the notepad away in my back pocket. I rolled my eyes at him and took off with T-Dog, the latter having handed the bolt cutters off to Glenn. While we jogged to the gun bag, I slipped the bat off my belt loop and handed it to T-Dog. He accepted the bat and held it at the ready as we dear near the first junction. The moans of a few lurking Walkers has me drawing my bowie knife and crouching. I peeked around the corner and counted 7 in between where we were and the side street we needed to cross through. I pulled the notepad out and drew x's where I spotted the Walkers.

T-Dog and I crept out around the corner and took cover behind a parked car, watching the movement of the Walker's shuffles. I pointed to the closest two and mimed knifing them, T-Dog nodded and went after a lone Walker in our path. A loud 'Thwack!' draws the attention of the Walker closest to me but T-Dog is already scampering off to the side street. I creep up behind it and drive my knife into its skull. Lowering the body to the floor as quietly as I can while the second Walker advances towards its downed friend. Without a second to stop I shove the Walker to the ground and stab it in the brain.

Another 'Thwack!' sounds just ahead of me and I leap to my feet. T-Dog is in the street panting with a downed Walker at his feet. I tapped his shoulder and he spun around with the bat ready to swing. My hands flew up to protect my face and T-Dog swore under his breath.

"You gotta make some noise before you sneak up on people, didn't even hear you coming." He shakes his head and sighs. "Gotta get you bell or something." I gawk at him and he snickers. I punch his shoulder and pout, not really having a counter argument. T-Dog grins and we continue our way down the street.

Coming to a stop at the edge of the street we spot the tank. The Walkers have dissipated for the most part since, from the looks of it, the horse is nothing but bones with scraps of meat clinging to them. The smell of the dead was heavily concentrated around the area and it was hard not to gag. T-Dog spotted the bag of guns before I did and nudged my shoulder.

"There, half way between the tank and the alleyway there. Straight shot from there, Glenn said something about a ladder that goes all the way up to the top of the building." He points away down and there it is. The large black bag is sitting in the middle of the road and he's right. It is a straight shoot but it's currently surrounded by lingering Walkers. We pull back and crouch down, the map Glenn drew sitting on my knee, we took stock of the area around us.

There was a few trash piles, bits of ripped clothing, and old mail posts. The lack of cars around made it hard to create a distraction but we had to do something. We spent the next few minutes hashing together some semience of a plan. Since the Walkers were spreading out, making noise would get them to clump together, but the only thing we could make noise with was the sniper rifle on my back and the mailboxes.

Our plan consisted of a whole lot of danger. T-Dog was going to use the baseball bat to hit the mailbox as hard as he could a few times making a bunch of noise. Once he had enough attention drawn to him, I would swoop in and grab the gun bag and lay down some cover fire.T-Dog would skirt around the majority of them, we would escape into the alleyway and up the ladder. Since the bag would be on the heavier side T-Dog said he would carry it up the longer section of the ladders. Glenn said it would be a straight shoot from there, and if we didn't see them awaiting on the roof with Merle, we were to go back to the Van.

"When I start making noise, a few Walkers are gonna pass by your spot. I'd say maybe hide but there isn't much for you to hide behind, other than the dumpster." T-Dog pointed behind us and tucked away in a corner was a rollaway dumpster. It was about level with my head, which would provide me a higher ground to knife the Walkers from. I could snipe any that got too close to T-Dog and kill any that clawed at me. I turned and smirked at T-Dog, he smiled back when he clued in to my thoughts.

"Lets see if we can't go move that thing without making too much noise. Wouldn't wanna spoil the plan before it even begins." And with that we were jogging over to the big green dumpster and carting it over to the alleyway mouth as quietly as we could. Once it was in place T-Dog hoisted me up onto the lid and I slipped my rifle off my shoulder. We did a quick survey of the area to see if anything had changed and were pleased to see that only one of the Walkers had moved away from the others.

"You ready?" T-Dog asked, shooting me a glance out of the corner of his eye. I nodded and cocked the rifle. T-Dog took a breath and darted out into the street.


End file.
